Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Stock Price

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $26.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.62. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The business’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth about $25,669,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth about $478,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 91,781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,398 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 836,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,715,000 after purchasing an additional 68,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging.